


Drag Me to Hell

by babyfox (pixeljeno)



Category: NCT (Band), NCT 127 - Fandom, NCT Dream
Genre: Cemetery, Closeted Character, Demons, Fear, Gay, Gore, Hell, Homophobia, Horror, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, School, Suicidal Thoughts, clown, themes relating to suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 20,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24516211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pixeljeno/pseuds/babyfox
Summary: "Where are we?""I was about to ask you the same question. Something isn't right about this place."In which Donghyuck and Mark find themselves trapped in a hellish version of reality, and only Donghyuck can free them.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	1. where are we?

A boy gasps awake as his head flies up from a desk which now has a small pool of drool sitting where his face had been. The boy wipes a small dribble of spit from the corner of his mouth as he takes in his surroundings.

There are six rows of desks with six empty chairs in each; that is, except his own. A large desk sits in front of a blackboard which has the words "detention" scribbled crudely in white chalk. The only light which illuminates the room comes from a single flickering lightbulb over his head and the moonlight which seeps through the window on the wall to his far right. He doesn't quite recall falling asleep in a classroom, but it alarms him further that no teacher or administrator had woken him and asked him to leave. Even the janitors didn't bother to do anything.

He wracks his brain for some type of logical solution. Maybe everyone left and forgot him, and didn't bother to come check out the room. But why could he not recall even falling asleep in class.

He remembers his name is Donghyuck and he remembers his friends and family, so clearly he hadn’t suffered from any severe memory loss, but why couldn’t he remember how he managed to get to his school?

The boy's train of thought is abruptly interrupted by the sound of pattering feet dashing past the open doorway. He feels his heart pump harder in his chest, but he attempts to breathe slow, deep breaths to remain calm. Though his brain tells him not to follow the sound, Donghyuck's body begins to move on it's own accord. He stands from his desk and begins slowly shuffling towards the doorway. He exits the room and wanders wearily down the dimly lit corridor.

Donghyuck passes classroom door after classroom door, finding none of them were open like the room he'd just exited from. A loud bang startles Donghyuck, causing him to spin on his heel and find that the classroom he had woken up in was now closed off just like the others.

"Fuck this," he mutters under his breath.

He turns and jets off in the opposite direction he came from. Donghyuck's blood pumps hard in his ears, forcing him to hear only the pulsations of his heartbeat rather than the second set of footsteps clomping towards him. Just as he turns the corner, Donghyuck slams into a figure and is knocked backwards. His back slams down hard onto the floor, causing him to groan in pain at the harsh contact. He hears a yelp come from a few feet away, and nearly jumps out of his skin. He sits up and finds the figure was lying on the ground.

"Fuck," the figure hisses, causing Donghyuck's heart to leap.

"Mark?" he gasps as relief washes over his whole body.

"Donghyuck?" the latter murmurs, "You made me hit my head on the fucking wall, you jackass. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I-I dunno. Where are we?" he asks.

"I was about to ask you the same question," Mark admits with a shake of his head, "Something isn't right about this place."

"You're telling me," Donghyuck remarks.

"It looks like our school, but...something feels very wrong here," he states with deep concern lacing his voice.

"Mark, how'd we get here? Why are we here?" he questions.

"You think I'd be this confused if I knew what was going on?" Mark groans, "We need to get the hell out of here."

"Yeah," Donghyuck hums in agreement.

Both boys lean against walls to help give them support to stand. Once they're on their feet, they stand face to face for a moment. Donghyuck gazes at Mark's slightly illuminated face and watches as a small glint shines in one of his eyes from the reflection of the moonlight. Mark turns his head to survey the area while Donghyuck looks off down the hall with a soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Mark?" he murmurs.

"Huh?" he grunts in response before spinning around on his heel to check the way he came.

"Do you...remember anything that happened before we got here?" Donghyuck asks nervously.

Mark freezes.

"I...I actually don't. Not much, anyway," he admits.

"What do you remember?" Donghyuck presses as he tilts his head slightly.

"I swear I was...I was driving you back to your house...from school," Mark mumbles as he struggles to remember, "There was some sort of argument? I think? After that, my mind draws a blank."

Donghyuck inhales sharply as he realizes he remembers that as well.

Except, he remembers what started the argument.

And what ended it.

"What is it? Do you remember what happened?" Mark asks in confusion.

"I...um...no," he lies.

Immediately, his stomach turns slowly with guilt. He hates lying to Mark. He always hated lying to Mark. It was truly ironic how he absolutely despised himself for it, yet it was something he did quite often as of late. And it led to a blowout he could only blame himself for.

"Really? Are you sure? Anything helps,” Mark urges, making Donghyuck’s body tense even further.

”N-no, I don’t remember anything,” he says quietly.

“Damn..." Mark says with an air of disappointment.

"I-I’m sorry," Donghyuck stammers as he scratches the back of his neck.

Mark suddenly shushes him and places his index finger over his own lips. Donghyuck watches Mark while the latter stares down the hall he came from. An odd whimpering sound comes from a room nearby. It takes Donghyuck a moment to realize it's the sound of an animal crying.

"Mark, is that-"

"A dog," Mark whispers, cutting him off, "We need to get out of here. _Now_."

"But-but there's an animal crying!" he protests, "We can't just leave it!"

"I don't trust it, Hyuck. Something feels very wrong here," Mark insists.

"Please, Mark," he begs.

Mark shakes his head and exhales stressfully.

"This is a bad idea. This is such a bad idea," Mark mumbles to himself as the both of them head towards the source of the crying.

They travel a few doors down and near one which appears excessively and abnormally locked up. Eight locks line the door, all varying from deadlocks to latches, giving the impression that whatever was inside was intentionally being trapped there.

The whimpers begin to grow increasingly somber, nearly breaking Donghyuck's heart to hear the sound of.

"Help me unlock it," he pleads as he steps on his tip toes to reach for the highest lock.

"Whatever's in here clearly is meant to be kept locked away. It could be dangerous," Mark warns him.

"Please," Donghyuck whines, causing Mark to cave with a deep sigh before joining him in his efforts.

The two boys fumble with the locks until all eight are undone. Mark and Donghyuck look to each other before Donghyuck twists the doorknob and opens the door.

A single, dim light shines on a black Doberman that's lying on its stomach in the middle of a cleared classroom. There are no desks except that of a teacher's, and something about that fact makes Donghyuck's skin crawl. A long, sturdy, silver chain trails from the dog's red collar into the darkness somewhere behind it. As Donghyuck slowly approaches it, he notices that the dog has a black metal muzzle surrounding its face, restraining it further. Its eyes appear to be dark and glossy. The sadness radiating from the helpless creature further breaks Donghyuck's heart. He sits on his knees and reaches for the muzzle, but the dog quickly shifts its head away, whimpering loudly. Donghyuck twists his body to face Mark, who's still standing in the threshold of the classroom door.

"Come help me," he requests, and Mark, yet again, complies reluctantly.

He crouches down beside Donghyuck and finds the dog looks straight at him. It suddenly stands and walks up to him, surprising both boys simultaneously. The dog whimpers and nuzzles it's face against Mark's legs before setting it's head into his lap.

Mark shoots Donghyuck a nervous glance, which Donghyuck returns with an urgent nod. Mark sighs and turns his head back to the sad dog. He cautiously removes the muzzle and discards it towards Donghyuck.

"Take the chain off," he commands eagerly.

Mark hesitantly unhooks the chain from the collar and drops it on the ground. He stares quietly at the dog, watching as he practically holds his breath. The dog whimpers yet again and moves it's head to nudge Mark's hand.

"Pet it," Donghyuck urges, but Mark doesn't do it. He sits idly, refusing to move a muscle.

The dog begins to cry.

"Mark, please! It just wants love!" Donghyuck cries out.

But Mark still does not move. It's as if he's frozen.

The dog wails louder and louder, still.

"Mark!" Donghyuck bellows as he finally snaps.

The dog then barks loudly, causing Mark to jump and scramble back away from it. Donghyuck stares in shock at it with wide eyes. It begins to growl viciously at Mark. Donghyuck watches on anxiously as he hopes the dog was consolable.

"It...it just wanted a little love..." Donghyuck stammers out weakly.

Mark remains speechless as the dog barks again. Donghyuck begins to feel as if he wants to cower away from it. Just as this feeling washes over him, the Doberman's eyes blink. When they open, they appear to glow a bright ruby red.

"M-Mark," Donghyuck whimpers as he glances towards the older boy, "Wh-what is that thing?"

"Come to me... _slowly_ ," he instructs as his eyes keep glued to the dog without staring it in its eyes.

Donghyuck obeys, but his eyes drift to the evil-looking creature standing mere feet away from him. He startles as the dog barks aggressively at him.

"Don't look at it. Look at me," Mark states, and Donghyuck complies, "When I say go, we make a run for it. Okay?"

Donghyuck nods and a few seconds of silence pass.

"Go!" Mark suddenly screams, and both boys make a break for the door.

The dog barks repeatedly as it chases after them.

Donghyuck runs alongside Mark as fast as his legs will allow. He feels a scream clawing up his throat, but it won't come out. He ignores the feeling and presses on as he tries to focus on Mark.

"There!" Mark says breathlessly as he points to an open door at the end of the hall.

Donghyuck doesn't respond, but instead pushes himself to go faster. The vicious, deafening barks of the dog remain hot on their heels, frightening Donghyuck further.

He notices Mark is falling behind, and he tries to slow to maintain the same pace as him, but Mark shoves him forward harshly. Donghyuck blunders through the doorway and tumbles to his hands and knees. He hears the door suddenly slam behind him. He instantly begins to panic, wondering if the door had shut by itself. He turns himself around and finds a dark silhouette standing at the door, pressed against it. The sound of loud scratching starts to fill the room, and Donghyuck bursts into a fit of tears as he screams loudly.

"H-Hyuck," Mark stammers as he gasps for air, "G-get desks to h-help barricade th-the door."

With tears still falling from his eyes, Donghyuck pulls himself back up onto his feet and starts stumbling around the dark room. He uses all of his energy and shoves anything he can get his hands on, towards Mark.

As the desks begin to surround Mark, he starts to crudely stack them and help Donghyuck gather more until the last desk is set in place. Both boys dive behind the teacher's desk and sit face to face with only the silvery moonlight to see each other through the darkness, though Donghyuck could hardly see anything through the blur caused by his tears.

"Hey," Mark whispers softly as he places his hands gently on either side of Donghyuck's face, "Listen, it's okay. We're okay."

"W-what the f-fuck was tha-t th-thing?" he weeps.

"I don't know, but I need you to calm down for me. Can you do that?" Mark requests, "I need calm, clear-headed Hyuck right now."

Donghyuck nods as he breathes in broken gasps.

"Breathe," Mark says softly, "Through your nose; out your mouth. Six seconds in, seven seconds hold, eight seconds out.”

Donghyuck does as instructed. He inhales through his nose, holds his breath, then shakily lets it out.

"Good. Keep doing that," Mark praises him with a small smile that Donghyuck could only faintly see through the darkness and tears obscuring his sight.

Donghyuck continues the same pattern until he no longer wishes to sob and panic. His attention begins to drift to the warm touch of Mark's hands on his cheeks. He shuts his eyes momentarily, taking in the feeling wholly.

"Hyuck, do you hear that?" Mark murmurs as he drops his hands.

Donghyuck nearly whimpers at the loss of his warmth against his face, but forces himself to remain silent. It takes him a moment, but when he registers what Mark asked, he becomes utterly shocked in an instant.

The room was quiet. Dead quiet.

"The dog's not clawing at the door anymore?" he asks in utter confusion.

Both boys slowly stand from their cover, listening close for any sign the dog was still there. They navigate around the cluster of desks to get near the door. Mark carefully scoots some of the desks out of the way and squeezes through to get to the door. Once he does, he presses his ear against it and listens closely for several long moments.

"Nothing," Mark whispers as he listens a tad bit longer before pulling away, "Help me move the desks back a bit."

Donghyuck whimpers lightly, scared that the Doberman is waiting to rip them to pieces the second they open the door.

"It'll be okay. Just help me," Mark assures him.

Donghyuck wearily starts to help pull the desks back from the door until it's accessible. Mark then places his hand on the doorknob. He cautiously turns it and cracks it open just enough for him to peek through. He suddenly swings the door open and steps outside with his eyebrows furrowed and lips parted in confusion.

"It's... _gone_."


	2. he just wants love

"B-but where'd it go?" Donghyuck stammers slightly in fear that the demonic-looking Doberman could be nearby.

"It couldn't've gone far, but this is our chance to leave before it comes back," Mark remarks.

"But won't it come after us?" he points out.

"If we stay, we'll be trapped for god knows how long. At least if we keep a move on it, we have a chance of getting out of here," Mark insists as leans his back against the door to keep it propped open.

Donghyuck wants to argue, but he knows Mark is right. As he attempts to put his fear of becoming demon dog food aside, he slowly starts to realize just how true Mark's statement is. It's dangerous outside, but at least they could evade the dog permanently upon finding the exit and getting out. At this conclusion, Donghyuck nods.

"Okay," he replies in a faint whisper.

"After you," Mark states as he motions his hand towards the hall.

"Wh-why do I have to go first?" Donghyuck stammers.

"Because I want to make sure you actually leave with me," Mark deadpans.

"Oh," he mumbles. Donghyuck wants to feel offended, but he knows all too well that Mark has every right to think he'd chicken out and retreat back into the classroom. It’s far more likely to happen than he cares to admit.

Donghyuck compliantly shuffles out into the dimly lit hallway. He turns to watch Mark step out behind him and cautiously shut the door as quietly as possible. He paces up to Donghyuck before patting his shoulder and continuing onward.

As they wander down the dark, deserted hall, Donghyuck makes sure to follow Mark closely. He didn't want to go ahead of him, nor did he want to fall behind. He needed to stay as close to Mark as possible. He focuses on that and ignores the fear bubbling up in his stomach.

"Is it just me or do you find it odd that absolutely no one's here?" Mark suddenly speaks out as he slows to a stop just before they reach a turn.

Donghyuck eyes him. He hadn't quite questioned the vacant state of the school. He didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary.

"It's nighttime. No one's gonna be here," he states.

"You think a janitor or someone would be here?" Mark asks.

"Probably not," Donghyuck responds.

"Well...what time is it?" Mark inquires as he jerks his head around and looks back.

"Why is it so important?" Donghyuck whines as Mark rushes over to a nearby clock.

"Because something is clearly wrong here," Mark mumbles as he squints his eyes and cranes his neck to view what the hands read, "3 o’clock..."

"See? What janitor is gonna be here at three in the morning?" Donghyuck points out before he lets out a deep sigh.

"Yeah, but who would allow us to be left in here alone at three in the morning?" Mark rebuttals as he turns to Donghyuck.

"Maybe someone didn't realize we were here?" Donghyuck responds with a wavering voice.

"No, someone would've seen us. There's no way two students would have slipped under multiple staff's radars," Mark insists, "I woke up in the middle of the cafeteria of all places. You can't really get a more open space than that. It makes no sense to think someone missed me without it being intentional."

"I-I dunno, Mark," Donghyuck stammers.

"I just...I wish we knew how we got here when neither of us remembers coming back," Mark says in a low voice, "Maybe...maybe if we try to think hard enough, we'll be able to remember something to clue us in on how we got here." Donghyuck's mouth suddenly goes dry at his words.

"N-no. There's no use doing that," he responds as queasiness fills his stomach.

"Why not?" Mark asks with a deep frown and a furrowed brow.

"I-I just-I just think that-that if we can't remember now, we won't be able to remember at all," he stammers hastily. He quickly looks away from Mark and instead peers down the hall. "We should keep going and get to the exit."

"You're acting strange," Mark points out.

"Mark, seriously, if we don't get going-"

"You're hiding something, aren't you?" Mark confronts him.

Donghyuck feels his stomach drop to the floor as he snaps his head towards Mark. He shouldn't have opened his mouth.

"N-no! I'm not!" he exclaims with wide eyes.

"Hyuck, tell me what you know," Mark urges him in a calm voice.

"I don't know anything," Donghyuck denies.

"Don't lie to me. If something's going on here, then I deserve to know. I'm trapped in here the same as you," Mark presses as his frustration rises.

"I-I swear I don't-"

"Just tell me what you know!" Mark hisses.

Donghyuck flinches at Mark's sudden outburst of anger and squeezes his eyes shut as to not have to look at him. His heart beats faster and faster to the point where he wasn't sure if it could sustain the pace. His body begins to tremble as his brain begs his legs to start running. He mentally calls himself a coward; always running away from his problems.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry," Donghyuck mumbles on repeat to Mark as his chest begins to feel as if a 500 pound weight has been placed on it.

"Donghyuck," Mark suddenly speaks, "Donghyuck." His voice starts out in a whisper, but the more he repeats his name, the louder and more urgent it becomes. Donghyuck opens his eyes and realizes he's on the ground, now, sitting with his fingers entangled roughly in his hair.

"Donghyuck, get up," Mark speaks frantically, reaching down to grab him and pull him up.

"D-don't touch me!" he cries out as he jolts away from Mark's hands.

Just then, Donghyuck hears a low, distorted growl. He snaps his head towards the source of the sound and notices a pair of red, glowing eyes staring at them through the darkness at the end of the hallway. It takes a step closer and enters into a section of moonlight cast in through the window. The Doberman's teeth are all razor sharp, as are it's claws. It appears to have grown twice it's original size and was almost as big as a horse. Donghyuck was sure it could tear the both of them to shreds without any sort of effort.

The dog roars, causing Donghyuck to jump out of his skin. It then begins charging towards the two boys, causing Donghyuck to shriek in terror. He feels a pair of hands wrap tightly around his forearm and yank him up onto his feet. Before he knows it, he's being dragged by Mark as they barrel down the hallway with the large demonic Doberman hot on their heels, once again, with each bark made at them sounding like it came from the pits of Hell.

Mark turns a corner and jerks Donghyuck along with him. They keep on running with all their energy until they near the end of the hall once more. Mark stops at a classroom door and begins violently turning and pulling on the handle, but it won't budge. He tries the next door, but he yields the same results. Realizing the dog is coming dangerously close, Mark abandons his efforts and continues running with Donghyuck still in his grip.

"I c...can't...keep...running," Donghyuck gasps as he feels his energy quickly depleting.

"Fuck," Mark hisses under his breath.

Donghyuck begins slowing down as his body fatigues. Suddenly, Mark comes to a halt and turns to him. He takes ahold of Donghyuck's forearms and peers directly into his eyes.

"There's a staircase just over there. Go up them and find a classroom you can hide out in until the dog's gone," he instructs him as he nods his head in the direction Donghyuck needed to go, "I'll hold it off for as long as I can, but you gotta run as fast as your legs can carry you."

"What?" Donghyuck screeches as Mark darts off towards a red metal box on the wall nearby, "I'm not leaving you!"

Mark punches the glass in the front of it, causing it to shatter. He lets out a sharp, piercing cry, but presses on, not letting it stop him. He yanks out a fire hydrant, and turns to Donghyuck.

"Go! Now!" he screams before turning towards the dog that's now looming in the dark hall, approaching Mark at a now casual pace. Mark raises the fire hydrant, getting into a sort of batting position like he was playing baseball and readies himself to strike the creature.

Donghyuck feels an intense panic surge through him, but it was not because of the Doberman.

It was because of Mark.

"Don't hurt him!" Donghyuck cries out.

"Hyuck, get out of here!" Mark commands him without so much as looking away from the dog, but he doesn't listen.

"I said don't hurt him! He just wants love!" Donghyuck wails.

"What?" Mark snaps with the utmost confusion he could possibly have.

"He just wants love," Donghyuck repeats himself.

"How do you know that?" Mark asks.

"I'm not sure. I just know," he answers as he watches on anxiously, hoping Mark would hear him out.

As the Doberman inches closer, Mark remains in his defensive stance.

"Mark, please!" Donghyuck pleads.

"Fuck!" Mark finally drops the fire hydrant, causing it to fall to the ground with a loud clunk, “I hope you’re right.” He then raises his hands in the air as if surrendering.

The dog pauses and cocks its head to the side, slightly. It proceeds towards Mark in a slow manner, and it stops once it comes face to face with him. It lowers its head and opens its mouth. It lets out yet another distorted growl in his face as it displays its full set of sharp teeth. Mark hesitantly reaches out and places his palm gently on its head. To his surprise, the dog allows him to do so without biting or barking at him. He cautiously pets it and takes notice that it stops growling. Mark whips his head around to shoot Donghyuck an astounded look, then turns back and smiles at the Doberman.

"It's okay. No need to growl," Mark whispers to it with a slight nervous tremble in his voice.

The dog whimpers in a way that shatters Donghyuck's heart. He swears he can feel his sadness in his soul.

"It's alright. You're a good boy," Mark continues. At this, the dog begins to grow smaller and smaller. Donghyuck watches on, feeling utterly confused.

Mark continues petting the Doberman and murmuring praises to it. Although it shrinks to its original size, it doesn't stop there. It continues to do so until a tiny puppy is all that remains of what was once a vicious monster. Mark sits on his knees, and the pup places its front paws on his lap as it wags it’s tail so hard, it makes its entire body wiggle. It jumps on Mark and begins licking his face. Mark scrunches his face and chuckles.

"He's actually kind of cute now that he's not trying to kill us," Mark states with a light laugh, but Donghyuck doesn't reply. He just simply smiles at the cute scene in front of him and sighs in relief. It’s almost as if an unbearable weight was lifted off of him, and he was finally able to breathe.

Donghyuck approaches as Mark starts playing with the puppy's ears. He watches Mark kiss the top of his head, and it warms his heart. Unfortunately, the joyful moment is interrupted when a loud banging sound comes from nearby. Donghyuck and Mark both freeze up and look at each other with wide eyes. Donghyuck's blood turn to ice in his veins.

"What was that?" Mark utters.

Unable to speak, Donghyuck just stands motionless as he diverts his attention in the direction of the banging. Mark stands and starts to walk towards the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, the noise ceases after he takes only a few steps. Mark spins on his heel to see Donghyuck.

"What..." he starts before his eyes flicker away from him, "Wait...Where's the puppy?"

Donghyuck snaps his head back towards the area which he had previously been, but the small dog was now nowhere to be seen. Donghyuck had not heard him run off, and although he tells himself that maybe the loud banging most likely drowned out the scuffing of his paws on the ground, he knew that the noise didn't last long enough to not have been able to hear the dog once it ceased. It would've had to run to leave that quickly...but even then that seemed almost physically impossible. It was almost as if it had just vanished.

"Let's get out of here, already," Mark suggests in a low voice, and Donghyuck nods feverishly in agreement.


	3. the smell of death

1 month earlier

_"Donghyuck!" someone screams as the tanned boy approaches the round lunch table._

_"What?" he asks as his eyes widen and he freezes with his tray in his hands._

_"We were just talking about you," the boy with green hair hums, "We were wonderi–"_

_"Chenle! I wanted to ask him!" the tallest boy amongst them whines._

_"You sound like you're like five," another leaning back in his chair remarks._

_"To be fair, Jisung might as well be five," Mark chimes in as Donghyuck finally sits down in the seat next to him, as per usual._

_”I’m not a baby,” the tall boy pouts as he crosses his arms._

_"But you like being babied," a pink haired boy responds with a wide smile on his face as he pinches Jisung’s cheek._

_"Leave him be, Jaemin," another whom wears glasses and has his nose buried in a textbook lectures the other, halfheartedly._

_"Am I wrong?" Jaemin objects, "You baby him too, Jeno. Don’t lie."_

_Jeno shakes his head, refusing to respond to Jaemin._

_"So, Donghyuck," the boy leaning back in his chair speaks up as he redirects the subject, "Who in school would you wanna kiss?"_

_"Dammit, Renjun!" Jisung cries as he crosses his arms and pouts even more than before._

_"W-what?" Donghyuck stammers._

_"We wanna know who you'd kiss," Renjun repeats himself._

_"I said Sooyoung!" Chenle blurts out._

_"Why the fuck would it be Sooyoung? She wouldn't even count since she graduated already," Renjun snaps._

_"I said S–“_

_"So who would it be?" Jisung interrupts Jaemin as he leans forward._

_Donghyuck swallows hard as his eyes dart from one boy to the next. Each one of them watches intently, waiting for him to speak. Even Jeno ceases his studying and peers up at him through the top of his thick-rimmed spectacles to hear his reply._

_He wonders if maybe today was the day he comes clean._

_Maybe it'd be okay?_

_Maybe he could play it off as a joke?_

_His eyes flicker towards Mark, and he finds the older staring back at him. He quickly looks away and realizes he can't do it. There's no way he could. Not in a million years. He glances once more at Mark. Upon taking in Donghyuck's expression, his eyebrows turn upward and a frown tugs at the corners of his mouth._

_"Guys, leave him alone. He's not comfortable answering that," Mark immediately speaks out on his behalf._

_Several of the boys groan irritably._

_"But he was just about to tell us!" Chenle objects._

_"No, he wasn't. Back off," Mark warns them._

_"Buzzkill," Renjun mutters._

_"Then how about you tell us who you'd kiss," Jaemin suggests, putting Mark on the spot._

_Donghyuck watches him intently with anticipation. While part of him knows he won't utter the answer he wants to hear, a small piece of him still holds out hope that maybe he would._

_Mark's eyes flicker towards Donghyuck before quickly evading his gaze and looking down at his water bottle. He twists the opaque plastic cap between his thumb and forefinger mindlessly. Back and forth until the cap accidentally slips and falls onto his black plastic tray._

_"I dunno...Yoojung's kinda cute, I guess," Mark states with a small shrug. It's at that moment that Donghyuck feels as if Mark had just ripped his heart out of his chest and crushed it in his hand. The other boys laugh and scream and cheer about being right whilst making a fuss over Mark's answer, but Donghyuck does not. He lowers his head and remains quiet as he glances at his tray of food, not feeling hungry in the slightest, anymore._

_"Hyuck?" Mark asks softly as he leans in to the boy, “Are you okay?”_

_"I just remembered I have a test I have to study for..." Donghyuck lies, "I'm gonna go do that somewhere where it's quieter."_

_Before anyone can ask him any questions, Donghyuck snatches up his backpack and hastily escapes his friends' presence._

••••

"Did you hear that?" Donghyuck asks as he whips his head around to look behind them. He swore he heard something creak slowly as they passed the bathrooms.

"Ignore it," Mark mumbles as he continues walking.

"But, Mark–"

Suddenly, the older boy halts and turns his head slightly over his shoulder in Donghyuck's direction.

"Listen, the more we hesitate, the more likely we'll run into something else that’s horrifying. This place is clearly fucked, and we just need to just get the hell out of here before things get worse," Mark states, "Don't worry about it."

Donghyuck gulps and nods his head compliantly. Mark immediately trudges onward, not willing to hesitate any longer.

But Donghyuck doesn't move a muscle.

The creaking he heard before happens once more, elevating his already fast heartbeat. He slowly turns on his heel to find the boys' bathroom opening ever so slowly on it's own. The light inside flickers weakly, revealing an empty room with the black doors of the stalls being the only thing in view inside the bathroom besides the white tiles on the wall directly in the back. The door stops moving, and Donghyuck watches as the light continues to flicker at an eerily slow pace.

Once...

Twice...

Three times...

On the fourth flicker, the light illuminates the sight of a person lying on the floor wearing a red dress. They wear a brunette wig, and they appear to have makeup on their face. Their eyes are cold and lifeless, and there's a hole in the middle of their forehead which has blood dripping from it. Crimson liquid runs from the walls in streams while they lie in a pool of it.

It doesn't take long for Donghyuck to recognize the deceased individual.

It was himself.

Donghyuck lets out a blood curdling shriek as the door shuts with a loud bang which eerily mimics the sound of a gunshot.

"Donghyuck!" Mark yells after him as he dashes towards the sound of his screams.

The younger feels himself being pulled at the waist towards someone, but he's unable to pull himself out of his hysteric state.

"Hyuck. Hyuck! Hyuck! Are you okay? What happened?" Mark asks in a panic as he tugs on Donghyuck's torso. Donghyuck instantly clings to Mark, gripping his shirt tightly in his fists.

"It was me! Mark, I was fucking dead!" Donghyuck cries out as he begins to breathe rapidly. He finds he can't seem to get a proper breath of air, no matter how much he gasps for it. His lungs just won't take it in. It felt like he was suffocating.

"Hyuck, calm down. Please. It's okay. You're okay," Mark utters softly as Donghyuck buries his face into his shoulder. Mark gently rubs his back as Donghyuck weeps into him. "Let's keep going so we can get the fuck out of here, yea?" Donghyuck nods and withdraws from clinging to the older boy. He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and tries his best to calm down.

The second the two of them turn to continue on, they're met with the sight of five boys standing idly behind them. Donghyuck screams once more while Mark inhales sharply and tenses up. He instinctively extends his arm out in front of the younger in a sort of defensive manner which makes it seem as if he was shielding Donghyuck.

"Scared to see us?" Renjun asks in an amused manner.

"Fucking hell. What are you guys doing here?" Mark hisses as he lowers his arm.

"We heard you guys, so we came looking for you," Jisung informs him in an oddly calm manner.

"Wasn't hard following Donghyuck's screams," Chenle continues.

"You always had a distinctly girly shriek," Renjun adds with a wicked smile.

Donghyuck lowers his head, feeling a pit in his stomach and a sense of shame in his heart.

"Shut up, Renjun. Like you don't raise a few octaves when you scream," Mark defends him.

Renjun scowls at him before his expression changes into a sneer, but Mark doesn't pay him any mind.

"How'd you guys get here?" he asks as he ignores the bitter boy.

"We've been here," Jaemin responds cryptically.

"Yes, but how'd you get here?" Mark presses.

"Donghyuck made us," Jeno answers.

"What? Why'd he make you come here?" Mark questions with immense confusion.

"That's not what we mean," Jisung states in a low voice.

"Then what do you mean?" he sighs deeply.

The boys look amongst each other before returning their attention back to the two in front of them.

"Never mind," Chenle dismisses the subject.

"Let's just get out of here," Renjun grumbles.

"Yes, I'd like to head home," Jaemin agrees.

"Don't we all?" Jeno murmurs.

Donghyuck feels a part of his soul tingle in a sort of way that alarms him. He didn't know why, but somehow he knew something very bad was about to happen.

••••

The only sounds which fill the dead air are that of seven sets of footsteps clomping and scuffing against the floor of the suddenly claustrophobic halls. Though there's no indication that the halls have actually started to get smaller, but Donghyuck couldn't help but feel as if they had. Aside from this, Donghyuck began to feel a sort of discomfort about keeping beside Mark whilst the boys were around, so he had long since fallen back, away from the older boy. Instead he opted to remain by Jeno's side.

"We're almost there," Mark announces with a sort of cheerfulness in his voice.

"Thank fuck," Donghyuck breathes before silence ensues once more.

It slowly settles in that something wasn't right. It occurs to Donghyuck that nothing had happened since the others had joined them. Why? Was nothing else here? Were they just lucky enough to not have run into anything?

Donghyuck hastily pushes the thought from his mind, trying hard not to question the placidity which they were so courteously granted. He'd take eerie silence over demonic dogs and visions of his own dead body lying in a pool of blood with a bullet hole in his head.

"Psst...Donghyuck," a voice whispers to him, "Donghyuck. C'mere."

Donghyuck slows down and turns to see who had called him. His eyes land on Jaemin, who's flashing him a bright smile with his perfect set of white teeth as he stands stationary beside an open classroom door. His gaze flickers towards the boys whom all continue to move along before hesitantly approaching the pink haired boy.

"What?" he whispers back.

"I want to ask you something," Jaemin states, "Come on." He beckons Donghyuck to follow him into the classroom.

"Why? We're gonna lose the others," Donghyuck whines.

"We won't lose them, we'll just be a little ways behind them," Jaemin insists, "We can always catch up to them when we're done talking."

Donghyuck feels his stomach twist and turn slowly like someone was wringing it out. He has a strong urge to reject Jaemin and chase after the group, but he doesn’t want to be rude to him.

"I don't know, Jaemin," Donghyuck says with a wavering tone.

"Ah, don't be such a scaredy cat," he teases him, "It's just me."

Donghyuck shifts his weight from his left foot to his right one. He looks back to see where the others are, but they were already gone.

"Just...just make it quick, alright," Donghyuck requests.

"Don't worry...I will," Jaemin responds as he enters the classroom. Donghyuck follows closely behind him into the dimly lit room with one flickering light.

"This school really needs to fix their lighting system," Donghyuck murmurs.

Jaemin takes a couple steps further into the empty classroom and stops abruptly, nearly causing Donghyuck to collide into him due to the fact he wasn't properly paying attention. The pink haired boy spins on his heel, his face now mere inches from Donghyuck’s. Vomit begins to make it's way up Donghyuck's throat at the smell Jaemin's breath. He has to fight the urge to gag as to not offend his friend. But he couldn't deny the pungent odor that emits from him. Donghyuck couldn't quite distinguish what the smell was, but the closest thing he could associate it to was the smell of the dead cat he was forced to dissect in anatomy earlier that year.

He reeked with the smell of death.

"How long did you think you could keep up your charade?" Jaemin murmurs in a low voice as he tilts his head to the side.

"What?" Donghyuck blurts out as a sharp shock runs through him.

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice?" Jaemin continues as his voice gets lower.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," Donghyuck accidentally stutters.

Jaemin lets out an oddly deep, throaty chuckle.

"Yes, you do," Jaemin retorts.

"I-I want to g-go back to th-the group," Donghyuck barely manages to stammer out as he starts to back away.

Jaemin simply smiles at him as the tanned boy spins around to run away. To Donghyuck's dismay, the four other boys stand in a line like a wall which cuts him off from getting to the door. He inhales sharply at the sight of them, wondering how they could have possibly entered so quickly and quietly. The door to the classroom slams shut on its own, and Donghyuck lets out a loud squeak of terror.

"You know you're a disgrace, right?" Renjun speaks first.

"A fucking abomination," Jeno hisses as Donghyuck feels his chest begin to constrict and his eyes sting.

"Pathetic," Jisung continues.

"Unnatural," Chenle adds.

Hot tears start to pour down Donghyuck's cheeks as he finds it hard to breathe.

"St-stop," he pleads.

"We could never be friends with someone like you," they all state in perfect unison.

"Stop!" Donghyuck cries out at the top of his lungs as he squeezes his eyes shut. When he opens them, he finds each boy has thick black string sewn into their mouths with a cross stitch. He gasps wildly and takes a step back. He quickly spins around to find Jaemin stitched up as well. Donghyuck lets out a shrill scream and cowers away from the five boys.

As he continues to scramble back in attempt to evade them, he witnesses them slowly changing. He first takes note of it while looking at Renjun, but finds all of them are doing the same. Their skin starts to turn a pale, greyish tint. Their eyes lose all colour and take on a milky white appearance. Random spots on their skin begin to become dark and discoloured. Pieces of their flesh fall off, showing areas where their muscles and tendons are slowly deteriorating. A few of them even end up losing meat down to their bones on a few of their body parts. Jisung's right cheek was partially gone, exposing the bone to his jaw while Renjun's shin was now fully out on display. A few of Chenle's fingers fall to the floor and roll off towards Donghyuck’s feet.

Donghyuck wants to scream, but his vocal cords fail him. Instead, he forces his legs to race for the door, making sure to dodge Jeno's arm which lazily swings out at him as he passes by. He manages to reach the door, but when he tries to push down on the handle, it won't budge. It's as if it's been jammed. He turns back to see the rotting corpses of his friends scuffing their feet along the ground as they sluggishly approach him. A jolt of panic surges through Donghyuck, and he begins thrashing his fists against the door.

"Mark!" he calls out instinctively, "Mark! Please, help! Mark!"

He continues crying out for Mark as the corpses inch closer and closer. Donghyuck looks over his shoulder once more, finding that they were mere feet away from him, now.

"Mark! Help me! Mark!" he screams as loudly as his voice is able. He pounds his fists against the door much faster and harder than before. He squeezes his eyes shut as the stinging pain starts to become increasingly prominent.

Donghyuck hears a clunking sound before feeling something grab his forearm and yank him forward. He opens his eyes just as the door slams shut once more with a loud bang.

"What the fuck?" Mark blurts out from beside Donghyuck as he stares at the door. He quickly turns his attention to the younger. "Are you okay?"

Although Donghyuck wants to respond, he can't move his mouth to form the words. In truth, he wasn't really sure if he was okay or not. He just knew he was thankful Mark had saved him in time.

The sudden sound of several sets of hands pounding against the door startles Donghyuck and causes him to jump. Mark's hand grips onto Donghyuck's tightly.

"We need to get the fuck out of here," Mark states before pulling him along, trying to get as far away from the classroom as possible.


	4. he needs to know

2 weeks earlier

_“And I saw him walking with her as he was coming to join the group for lunch, today...It hurt so much, Jaehyun,” Donghyuck explains as he has his knees tucked into his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around his legs. He sits on his older friend’s bed as the other leans back in a black gaming chair just a few feet away._

_”So what’d you do?”_

_”I got up from the table and ran into the restroom. I cried the entire lunch period,” Donghyuck admits as his eyes prick with tears while remembering the way Mark was laughing with Yoojung. He looked happy. Donghyuck’s heart begins to feel as if someone had decided to repeatedly stab it with a kitchen knife over and over until it was nothing but a bloody pulp._

_”Hyuck...”_

_The boy looks up at Jaehyun, finding his expression is saturated with pity and vague frustration. He could tell he was about to give him brotherly advice in the form of a lecture, and he braces himself for it._

_”If you keep running away from this, not only will you unintentionally out yourself, but you’re just going to keep getting hurt,” he sighs as he crosses his arms over his chest._

_”I can’t just tell him I like him_ _. It’s not the same as what happened with you and Taeyong. I don’t wanna ruin an eight year friendship over some stupid feelings that will probably go away, soon,” Donghyuck denies_ _hastily._

_Jaehyun shakes his head slowly and briefly purses his lips as he exhales deeply through his nose._

_”I would normally agree, but...Donghyuck...I’ve seen the way you look at him. I’ve seen the way you listen closely when he talks. I’ve seen how your eyes light up when you talk about him. I’ve noticed it for a long time now,” Jaehyun sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, “I’ve known you your entire life, and never have I ever seen your eyes glimmer quite like they do when you watch Mark laugh. You may have just recently realized you like him, but I’ve known for a long time. This won’t just go away that easy.”_

_The younger’s eyes glisten and heat up with tears as Donghyuck’s nose begins to tingle._

_”I can’t do it, Jaehyun.”_

_“What’s stopping you?”  
_

_Donghyuck chews anxiously on the skin of his bottom lip as a million reasons fill his head._

_”I’m just...I’m just scared, Jaehyun.”_

_Jaehyun exhales deeply through his nose as his frown seemingly deepens even further. He takes a minute to respond, and Donghyuck knows it’s because he’s choosing his next words carefully._

_”I know...We all are, sometimes,” Jaehyun says in a kind, comforting tone; he pauses for a brief moment before continuing on, “Just...always know that I’m here for you. No matter what happens. I’ll always be here for you.”_

••••

"Fuck, I think we're lost," Mark mutters stressfully as they turn down yet another hallway which looks the same as the one before.

"W-we can't be lost. This is just like our school, right?" Donghyuck whimpers.

Mark shakes his head and exhales deeply.

"This isn’t our school, Donghyuck," Mark mumbles.

Donghyuck shudders as he tries to not think about the implications of what Mark said.

"We...we have to keep searching," he insists nervously.

Mark nods and continues pacing down the hall.

Since Mark had let go of Donghyuck’s hand ages ago after they realized they had successfully evaded their decomposed ‘friends’, Donghyuck was forced to, once again, focus on keeping his pace with him as to not run ahead or fall behind. Unfortunately, this isn’t enough to keep them together.

"Donghyuck..." a low voice comes to him in a soft, soothing whisper, "Donghyuck..."

He whips his head around in attempt to locate the source of the voice, but he couldn't see anyone anywhere.

"This way," the quiet voice beckons him.

Though he could not see the owner to which the voice belonged, he could clearly hear it was growing distant in the opposite direction that he and Mark were headed. Based off his last experience following something that was calling him, Donghyuck knows he should ignore it and keep as close to Mark as possible, but something about this voice made him feel safe. He felt trusting of it.

"Come on," the whispering voice urges him once more, and Donghyuck mindlessly follows it, "Come into the art room."

At this, one of the classroom doors slowly opens on it’s own. Bright light spills out of the room, initially causing Donghyuck to wince at it. Once his eyes are adjusted, he approaches the room and peers inside. He sees easels placed in organized rows with various blank canvases on each one. Without giving it a second thought, Donghyuck enters the well-lit room, and the door gently shuts behind him. Though this makes his stress levels rise, he proceeds to wander the room until he notices a man sitting in front of one of the easels with a paintbrush in hand. He calmly paints with light strokes, humming softly to himself as he goes.

"Hello?" Donghyuck speaks up timidly as he cautiously nears them.

The man ceases mid-stroke at the sound of Donghyuck's voice.

"You came," the voice chimes happily before setting down the paintbrush. The man stands from his stool and turns around to look at Donghyuck with a beaming grin that displays his dimples very clearly on his cheeks.

"Jaehyun!" Donghyuck cries out with glee as he leaps forward and hugs the familiar man.

"Donghyuck," Jaehyun murmurs, "I'm so glad you're here."

"What happened? Why are you here? What did you need?" the younger inquires as he steps away from Jaehyun.

Unfortunately, Jaehyun's pleasant demeanor fades away at these questions. He sighs deeply as his smile slowly falls into a frown.

"Donghyuck, you and Mark are in terrible danger," he states.

"What do you mean? We've been in danger this whole time," Donghyuck retorts.

"No, I mean...never mind. It's not important what I mean," Jaehyun mutters before raising his voice to a more audible level, "Listen, Mark was right. This isn’t your school...but you knew that, didn’t you? The layout is much more complex. It’s designed to intentionally make you go in circles and get lost. You and Mark have come so far, together, but one wrong turn might have you both stuck here. To get to the exit, you need to take a left, go down the hall, take a right, go down the stairs, then just go straight ahead without stopping until you reach the glass entrance doors. And no matter what you do or what you see: don't stop."

"What? How do you–"

"There’s not much time. Remember the directions. Make sure you and Mark get out safely," Jaehyun advises as he cuts Donghyuck off.

"I...thank you," Donghyuck replies, but Jaehyun shakes his head in dismissal.

"No need to thank me. Just get the hell out of here," he dismisses him, "And...Donghyuck?"

"Yeah?"

"You need to tell Mark the truth."

Donghyuck‘s stomach plummets as his brain refuses to fully process what Jaehyun said. He didn’t want to tell Mark what happened before they got here. No, surely he would hate him if he knew. What would he do, then?

"I...I can't..." he whispers feebly.

"You have to," Jaehyun states firmly.

"Why?" Donghyuck questions defensively as a limp forms in his throat at the idea of having to do so.

"It's important, Hyuck. He needs to know," Jaehyun insists.

"But–"

Before Donghyuck can argue, a faint voice could be heard from outside. It was just barely audible enough to cause him to silence and listen closely.

"Donghyuck!" Mark calls out wearily, "Where are you?"

Donghyuck gazes towards the door, praying Mark wouldn't try looking for him in the art room. He didn’t want Mark to interrupt their conversation before he had the opportunity to ask Jaehyun the questions he needed to know.

"Jaehyun, I–"

As Donghyuck turns back around, he's met with the sight of a vacant classroom. His eyes dart around the room in attempt to see if maybe he had hidden somewhere quietly, but he was nowhere to be seen. Jaehyun had vanished just like a ghost.

Donghyuck’s eyes settle on the painting Jaehyun had been working on and takes note of the fact it's the portrait of a man's side profile. The man has deep red hair that's brushed back. His head is tilted down a bit and he gazes with a slight smile on his face. His expression is warm despite the fact he's surrounded by darkness.

Donghyuck recognizes the man and admires how Jaehyun had managed to capture his beauty in his art. Jaehyun always told Donghyuck how much he loved drawing Taeyong. He wasn't surprised he was able to paint his greatest muse with such intricacy and accuracy. It almost made Donghyuck jealous, in a way. If only someone loved him in the way Jaehyun loved Taeyong.

"Donghyuck!" Mark calls out once more, this time from directly outside the classroom door.

Snapping out of his head, Donghyuck dashes for the door, repeating in his head the directions Jaehyun had given him. He forcefully swings the door open and jogs up to Mark, whom is a few doors down from the art room, now. He turns his head towards the sound of Donghyuck having opened the door, and his eyes light up at the sight of him.

"Donghyuck!" Mark calls out as he rushes towards him.

"Mark! I think I know the way out!” Donghyuck exclaims as they both reach one another.

"What? How?"

"I saw Jaehyun in the art classroom. He told me how to get out of here,” Donghyuck explains, “I tried asking him some questions, but he disappeared after I heard you start calling out for me.”

Mark’s face contorts into a slight wince.

”Are you sure you want to take advice from someone who disappears? It seems like anything or anyone we encounter here is dangerous. Do we really wanna take that risk?”

”No, he was trying to help.”

”How are you so sure of it?”

”I...I don’t know...I just am...” Donghyuck admits, “It’s worth the try, isn’t it?”

Mark hesitates for several moments before letting out a deep sigh.

"Okay. We’ll check it out," he agrees, causing Donghyuck to smile.

"Let's go."


	5. safe than sorry

"Look! There it is!" Donghyuck lets out a happy squeak as he points to the glass doors at the end of the long hallway lined with lockers on either side.

"Let's get the fuck outta here!" Mark chimes as he breaks into a sprint. Without a moment's hesitation, Donghyuck does the same. He cheerfully tells himself they're home free, that freedom from this hell hole is just within their grasp.

But that, unfortunately, isn't the case.

As they barrel down the hall, Donghyuck notices a single locker open up. He slows down at the sight of it, wondering why it had done that. He intends to walk past it as Jaehyun instructed, but before he can, every single locker door in sight flies open, startling both Donghyuck and Mark. Suddenly, all of them start repeatedly slamming shut and opening back up while the lights overhead flicker on and off. Mark and Donghyuck make eye contact, both sets of eyes wide with fear.

"Keep going!" Donghyuck cries out earning a frantic nod from Mark, and once again, they take off towards the exit.

The lockers continue to slam loudly, but Donghyuck pushes onward as he does his best not to let it terrify him. It isn't until halfway to the end of the hallway that he finds himself abruptly stopped in his path.

The lights flicker off, leaving Donghyuck to only see via the moonlight provided through the small windows of the main entrance doors just beyond the glass ones at the end of the hall. With the lack of light for him to see his surroundings and the deafening clashing of the locker doors, Donghyuck quickly becomes disoriented. He squeezes his eyes shut and covers his ears, trying to block out as much of the noise as possible. His heart pounds violently in his chest as he feels his lungs refuse to take in a proper breath.

Suddenly, the lockers stop.

The air becomes completely still as Donghyuck takes shallow, quick breaths. He slowly lowers his hands, finding that his ears are ringing as they attempt to adjust to the silence. Unfortunately, before Donghyuck can even remotely calm himself down, there is a loud clatter that comes from directly in front of him. He inhales sharply and jumps in fear. He hears choking and short gasps for air. Though still indescribably fearful of opening his eyes, Donghyuck forces himself to look to check that the sounds aren’t coming from Mark. Upon doing so, the sounds slowly cease, and Donghyuck feels his stomach sink.

”M-Mark?” he whimpers.

The moment his name leaves his mouth, the light fixture just above Donghyuck flickers on. With the new source of light comes a sight which sends Donghyuck spiraling into a state of panic.

The light reveals Donghyuck hanging from the ceiling. He dons a rope around his neck, stringing his body up like some sort of twisted, fucked up display. Donghyuck lets out a shrill scream and stares in horror at his own lifeless body.

One final locker door slams shut, causing Donghyuck to scramble away from it. Written in blood across the lockers reads the phrase: ‘better off dead’. Donghyuck’s hands fly up to his mouth as he goes to scream, but the feeling of something warm and slightly sticky on them causes him to divert his attention. He looks down at his palms and finds that they’re covered in blood. It drips from his hands and hits the floor, creating a small pool of blood. He screams at the top of his lungs and begins trembling violently, unable to cope with what he was witnessing.

"Donghyuck!" Mark yells in a panic. Although he can hear Mark, he cannot see him. He continues to scream until he feels a pair of hands grab onto his biceps and yank him just past his hanging corpse.

"Donghyuck, listen to me. Focus on me," Mark instructs as he tries to get the younger to face him and quiet down, "It's not real. Hyuck, it's not real. We need to get out of here. We can't stop now."

Though still in a severely distraught state, Donghyuck nods feverishly. Mark takes his hand into his own and starts pulling him along. The both of them race down the hall, getting as far away from the horrific sight as possible.

Upon reaching the glass doors, Mark shoves his side into the bar, pushing it open forcefully. He repeats this action to the main entrance, but holds it open to allow Donghyuck to exit first. Once both boys are safely outside, they race down the concrete steps and towards the street. They come to an abrupt halt at the sidewalk, and Donghyuck instantly notes that there are absolutely no cars on the road. Not a single soul wanders the street and not a single vehicle in sight. Just him and Mark.

"Wh-Where is everyone?" Donghyuck sputters out as they look around at the desolate street.

"I...don't know..." Mark responds.

"M-maybe it's because it's th-three in the morning?" Donghyuck attempts to reason.

"No...it's a ghost town around here," Mark murmurs, "There's usually cars out no matter what time of day. This makes no sense."

"Wh-why would ever-ryone be gone?" Donghyuck stammers as goosebumps raise all over his skin.

"I don't know..." Mark replies, "Let's just keep going and find somewhere to stay. My house isn't far from here. Maybe we can stay there for a while."

"Ok-kay," Donghyuck agrees and proceeds to follow the older boy as he walks hand in hand with him in the direction of his home.

Donghyuck glances at their hands at the realization that Mark has yet to let go, and he is met with a shock.

The blood on his hands had disappeared.

••••

Donghyuck keeps his mind trained on the concrete, making sure to step over the cracks and lines in the pavement. He couldn't focus on how nice it was to be alone with Mark for once, mainly in part to the fact they were in such a horrifying situation. He didn't want to think about the things he'd seen throughout the night thus far, but images of what he had seen and the things he was told burn in his mind, searing the memories into his brain. They were in the midst of a nightmare, and the only things they could truly trust were each other.

"Look! There it is!" Mark chimes as he abruptly stops and points to a house painted white with two stories.

There are bushes planted along the perimeter of it, but they appear dead. The grass in the yard is brown and dry. Even the tree in the front yard doesn't have leaves on it, nor an ounce of life to it's appearance.Oddly enough, despite the surrounding plant life appearing as if it was uncared for, the house itself looks clean and untarnished. Still, Donghyuck couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong and that entering the house was a bad idea.

"C'mon," Mark urges him as he jets off down the walkway and towards the front door. Donghyuck suppresses his concerns and follows Mark.

When he catches up, he watches as Mark is able to open the door without a key.

"Huh...must be an accident," Mark insists before opening it up wide for Donghyuck to enter, "My mom probably left it unlocked without realizing it."

The younger takes slow, cautious steps inside, feeling vaguely reluctant to actually enter. Still, he does anyway, and so does Mark. Donghyuck's stomach twists and turns at the sound of Mark shutting the door, but, yet again, he doesn't voice his concerns.

"We should try to find weapons to protect ourselves with," Mark suggests.

"B-but why?" Donghyuck asks, “Can we even defend ourselves?”

"I dunno, but...just in case...I'd rather be safe than sorry, ya know?" Mark admits, "I'll check down here. You can check upstairs, yeah?"

“B-but–“ Donghyuck starts, but immediately backs down from objecting. He wants to tell Mark that he doesn’t want to leave his side, but the last thing he wanted was to be a nuisance to him. He gave him instructions, it was best to just listen to him.

Donghyuck nods compliantly, and Mark gives him a reassuring smile before taking off towards the kitchen. Donghyuck takes in a deep, shaky breath as he starts towards the staircase.

As Donghyuck ascends the stairs, each step seems creakier than the last, and he can't help but whimper at how it seemingly adds to the eeriness of the quiet house. Still, he proceeds onward until he reaches the top floor.

Just as Donghyuck turns the corner to enter into the hallway, the door at the end of it slowly creaks open. He mentally tells himself he should turn back and find Mark, immediately, but his legs won't do as his mind tells them to. It’s a stupid idea to wander towards the opening door, and he knows it, but that doesn't stop his body from doing so, anyway.

The closer he gets, the more aware he becomes of his heart racing in his chest. He keeps telling himself to turn back, but he doesn't. His legs refuse to go that way. Instead, he enters into the dark room.

Donghyuck places his hand against the wall beside him and glides his fingers over the slightly rough surface until he feels the smooth plastic of the light switch. He flicks it on and is met with a sight that sends chills down his spine.

Dolls are lined along the wall, dolls are crowded on the bed, dolls are placed neatly on the shelves, and dolls are sitting in chairs. Stuffed dolls, porcelain dolls, tiny dolls, and dolls the size of a three year old child. They take up what Donghyuck estimates is about sixty percent of the room. They were a disturbingly prominent sight aside from the large wooden wardrobe just across the room from the door.

"When the fuck did Mark's parents have a whole room dedicated to creepy fucking dolls?" Donghyuck murmurs to himself with a light shudder as he tries his best to shake off the unsettling nature of the room, "I don't wanna know."

As he decides it's best he leave and pretend he never encountered the room, he watches as each and every doll head turns slowly in his direction. Donghyuck's eyes widen as fear sets in. He spins on his heel and takes a mere step forward before suddenly being thrown back, forcefully. He flies across the room and lands inside the wardrobe. Before he can react, the doors slam shut. He pushes on the grainy wood and attempts to get out, but it won't budge.

He's trapped.

Claustrophobia instantaneously hits him, and Donghyuck begins to breathe quickly and unevenly. He thrusts his fists against the wood, pounding with as much force as he can muster. Still, he can't even do so much as get the doors to crack open.

"Mark!" he screams, "Mark! Help! Help me!"

He continues this for what feels like an eternity, but he knows it's got to be only mere minutes. Still, each one was filled with nothing but terror as he begins hyperventilating.

”Mark! Please! I-I-“ he attempts to cry out as he feels himself growing lightheaded.

To his surprise, the doors abruptly fly open. Mark stands before him with a furrowed brow and a deeply confused expression. It takes everything in Donghyuck not to leap forward and hug him tightly.

“Donghyuck? What the hell are you doing in the closet?" Mark asks.

"I-I walked in here and-and there were dolls everywhere and they-and they all looked at me and I-I tried to leave but-but I was trapped in-in here. The d-doors we’re st-stuck," Donghyuck tries his best to explain through his gasps.

"Donghyuck...there are no dolls in this room," Mark explains, "And the closet wasn't stuck."

Donghyuck stares at the older boy with wild eyes, wondering if he was playing games. If so, it wasn't funny. Not in the slightest. He knew what he saw, and he was certain he was trapped in there.

Donghyuck hurriedly steps out of the wardrobe and scans his eyes around the room.

There was not a single doll in sight.


	6. happy for me

"Go ahead and lie down on my bed. I'll sit at my desk chair," Mark says as he shuts the door to his bedroom. Donghyuck complies and sits on the soft, comfy bed. Mark wanders over to the swivel chair at his desk across the room, and he spins it around so that he faces Donghyuck. "Listen, everything's gonna be okay. What you saw in there wasn't real. Something was just tricking you into thinking you saw dolls and that you were locked in the closet."

"Mark, I was physically trapped in that wardrobe. I couldn't get out of it," Donghyuck insists.

"I believe you," Mark quickly responds, "It's just...I need you to try and keep calm. We can get through this...whatever _this_ is."

Donghyuck nods, not wishing to argue with Mark about how real any of this was. Silence ensues, and Donghyuck looks over at the empty space on the bed beside him. He thinks about how much he wants to ask Mark to be beside him and hold him so that he can feel safe and secure, but he knows that requesting such a thing would not go over well. The last thing he wanted was to make Mark uncomfortable.

"You know...you never answered me earlier," Mark brings up.

"About what?" Donghyuck mumbles.

"About why it's no use trying to figure out how we got here," Mark answers promptly.

"I already told y-"

"No, you didn't tell me. You lied to me. I want to know the truth," Mark confronts him.

Donghyuck feels the queasiness in his stomach intensify at Mark’s serious tone. He was growing irritated and impatient with him now that he realizes he lied, and Donghyuck wishes for nothing more than for the subject to go away.

"Please...stop," Donghyuck pleads weakly.

"I deserve to know, Donghyuck," Mark presses.

Donghyuck whimpers as Jaehyun's words fill his head. He didn't want to tell Mark the truth. He knew it could potentially ruin their friendship, and the last thing he wanted was to lose his one source of comfort in this nightmare. He is completely and utterly terrified of how Mark will handle hearing what happened, but Jaehyun made it very clear he had to know the truth.

"I...I lied about the last thing I remember," Donghyuck admits as he shuts his eyes, refusing to look at Mark as he speaks.

"Of course," Mark speaks flatly, "Well...what was it?"

••••

_"Hey, I have some good news," Mark hums cheerfully as he rolls to a stop at a red light._

_"What? Did you finally decide to quit being a loser," Donghyuck teases him as the light surprisingly turns green._

_"No," Mark replies, rolling his eyes before proceeding to drive down the street, "So...I asked Yoojung out to the movies this weekend...and she said yes."_

_"Oh..." Donghyuck mumbles, his bright, cheery mood crashing the instant the word leaves his mouth._

_"What? Are you not happy for me?" Mark asks with a sort of laugh that alerts Donghyuck he had to be careful how he worded his next response._

_"No, no. It's nothing. I meant to say it like 'oh'," he lies as he puts more of a false cheer into his 'oh'._

_"You act like I can't tell when you're lying," Mark confronts him in a significantly less lighthearted manner, "Why are you upset?"_

_Donghyuck purses his lips and turns to look out the passenger's side window of Mark's car. He didn't want to answer. He couldn't answer._

_"Hyuck–“_

_"Don't 'Hyuck' me. Just stop," Donghyuck snaps, "I didn't have a problem, but if you want to think there is one, then fine."_

_"I'm not an idiot, Donghyuck. I know you. I've known you for years. You think I can't tell when my best friend is upset about something?" Mark presses, "What is it? Do you not like her or something?_ _"_

_"Mark, fucking stop," Donghyuck growls._

_"No, I want to know. If you have a problem with someone I want to date, I want to know why," Mark demands._

_"You're being a prick," Donghyuck states bitterly._

_Mark lets out a disbelieving scoff._

_"Am I? Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was invalid for feeling concerned that my best friend isn't supporting me dating someone," Mark retorts as his anger suddenly spikes._

_"Let me out," Donghyuck hisses._

_"What?"_

_"I said let me out, you fucking idiot!" Donghyuck bellows as he clicks the bright red button to his seatbelt._

_Mark notices this and instantly swerves up to the nearest curb, putting his car into park._

_"What are you doing?" Mark asks, but Donghyuck doesn't answer. He just snatches one of the straps to his backpack and_ _opens the door to Mark's car._

_"Donghyuck."_

_He hops out and slips his arm through the strap, slinging it over his shoulder._

_"Donghyuck, come back!"_

_He trudges into the street, deciding he needed to get as far away from Mark as possible._

_"Donghyuck!" Mark’s voice suddenly gets more frantic, but Donghyuck didn’t care._ _One more second in his presence and he'd lose it._

_"Donghyuck, watch out!"_

_Unsure if he heard Mark correctly, he glances over to see Mark bounding towards him. As he looks into the street, he sees the headlights of an oncoming white car. Donghyuck feels a set of arms wrap tightly around him._

_The shrill sound of car tires screeching against the pavement grate Donghyuck’s ears for the short time he hears them. He then hears a loud, harsh thump against metal before an intense pain overtakes his entire body. It spreads like a wildfire and puts him into a brief state of agony just before_ _everything goes black._


	7. wanna hear a joke?

Mark stares at Donghyuck with a look of complete vacancy as he attempts to process what the younger boy had just told him.

"Wh..." Mark attempts to speak, "Why don't I remember that?"

"I don't know," Donghyuck responds feebly as his fingers mindlessly pick at the hem of his hoodie.

"Are...are we dead?" Mark inquires.

"I don't know," Donghyuck repeats but this time in a weak whisper.

The air becomes thick with tension as neither boy speaks, and Donghyuck swears he's suffocating from it. He wishes that Mark would say something. Anything. He couldn't stand the deafening silence that pierces his ears and the fear of not knowing how Mark was feeling. Does he hate him? Does he not? Donghyuck fully understands Mark most likely is unable to properly process what's going on, but it doesn't ease his mind in the slightest.

"I'm so sorry, Mark," Donghyuck says in a volume which is so low, it was barely even audible to himself.

Mark glances up at Donghyuck with saddened eyes and shakes his head. Before he can say anything, a soft creaking noise fills the air. Both boys snap their heads towards the door to Mark's room and watch as it slowly opens on its own. Without a second’s hesitation, Mark stands up and walks towards it. Donghyuck shoots up from the bed and rushes to his side. He grips his wrist tightly, causing Mark to stop and shoot him a questioning look.

"Don't go," Donghyuck begs with a sense of urgency.

Despite his pleas, Mark turns his back on him and continues on. Donghyuck follows close behind, feeling too afraid to be left alone. Mark checks the end of the hallway where the staircase begins and stares at it for several moments. Donghyuck stands anxiously by his side, waiting for him to figure out what to do.

The faint sound of overly animated chuckling comes from the other side of the hall, and Donghyuck immediately snaps his head towards it. He questions if he really heard what he thought he did, and takes a few steps closer in the general direction of the sound. He hears it again, feeling the muscles in his body instantaneously tense up.

"D-did you hear that?" Donghyuck asks, but there's no response, "Mark?"

As the boy spins on his heel, he's met with the sight of an empty hallway. His stomach drops at the realization he's alone now.

The laugh fills the air once more, but this time at a much more audible volume. He turns around and sees a figure dart across the hall from one room to another. Without thinking, Donghyuck paces towards the room which the figure had run into.

The door is wide open, but the room is pitch black, hindering Donghyuck from being able to see anything inside. He takes a few cautious steps into the room and brushes his hand against the wall in attempt to find the light switch. After a couple seconds of awkward wall caressing, his hand hits the cold plastic, and he flicks it on. To Donghyuck's surprise, the room is vacant. All that‘s inside is a queen sized bed, a bedside stand with a plain-looking lamp, and a fairly large dresser drawer. It clicks in Donghyuck's head that this was Mark's parents' room. He had never been inside, but he recalls it being one of the only rooms he had never entered.

But where were Mark's parents?

And who had run across the hallway laughing?

Donghyuck shudders as a wave of chills run through his body. He tries not to think about it and decides he needs to find Mark, immediately. The longer he wanders the place without him, the more likely he's going to get hurt.

As he turns to leave, Donghyuck is met with a face that's covered completely in makeup. The entirety of it is coated in a ghost white shade with a large red spot on its nose and blood red on its lips. It’s dressed in a sort of baggy clown costume which is checkered with black and red diamonds all over it. When it smiles at Donghyuck, its teeth are coated with a deep red liquid that’s a similar colour to its lips.

Without warning, the clown-like figure latches its black gloved hand to Donghyuck's throat. Donghyuck can feel his airways being cut off as its grip tightens, but the clown doesn't stop there. It lifts Donghyuck into the air and proceeds to chuckle at him. The laugh starts out goofy, but as it goes on, it becomes increasingly sinister.

Then, it abruptly stops.

"Wanna hear a joke, Hyuck?" the clown asks as it leans in close, forcing Donghyuck to breathe in the smell of rust on it's breath, "That you thought Mark would stick by you."

The clown begins to cackle as Donghyuck claws at its hand. He jerks his body around in attempt to get it to drop him, but it proves to be a futile action. Its grip just seemingly tightens, causing Donghyuck to start feeling pressure building in his head.

"Oh! I have an even funnier joke!" the clown exclaims, "It's the one where the only closet Mark is willing to help you out of is the wardrobe you got locked in."

The clown begins roaring with laughter as Donghyuck feels tears sting his eyes. It was a mix of the emotional pain the 'joke' inflicted as well as the physical pain from his inability to breathe properly. Donghyuck flails his legs out with as much force as he can muster. To his surprise, he manages to kick the clown hard in the ribs, causing it to drop him as it cries out in pain. Donghyuck lands on his hands and knees, gasping wildly for air as he coughs.

"M-a-Mar-k," Donghyuck tries to scream, but his cries come out as hoarse spurts of air.

Ditching plan A, Donghyuck starts crawling for the door. Unfortunately, a pair of hands wrap around one of his ankles and begin dragging him further into the room. Donghyuck is flipped onto his back and sees the clown snarling at him as it proceeds to pull him along. Donghyuck forcefully kicks at its face with his free foot and surprisingly strikes it right on its nose. The clown bellows in pain as it lets go of Donghyuck and cups its hands over its nose. Realizing this is his only window of opportunity to escape, he scrambles to his feet and jets off out of the room before the horrific clown can catch him again.


	8. the only way out

Donghyuck races down the hall, hoping he'd manage to make it to Mark in time, but he begins to notice something alarming.

The hallway is elongating.

Before, there were only two sets of doors on either side, now there are ten doors lining both sides. And still counting.

Donghyuck halts in his tracks and whips his head around every which way as he tries to determine what to do.

"You can't run from me!" the clown bellows from somewhere behind Donghyuck.

With an extreme sense of panicked urgency, Donghyuck turns to the nearest room and rushes inside as quickly as possible. He shuts the door with a loud bang and locks it before resting his forehead on the smooth wood while breathing in laboured breaths. The lights suddenly turn on, and Donghyuck inhales sharply, thinking he's officially fucked.

"Donghyuck, I need you to listen to me," a voice states sternly behind him. The tanned boy spins around and lets out a sigh as relief crashes over him like a tidal wave. Rather than being met with the sight of the demonic clown, he finds Jaehyun standing in the midst of a completely barren room with white walls and a white carpet. Not a single piece of furniture was in sight. Not a single window or closet door could be seen. It was a blank canvas.

Though, seeing Jaehyun brings Donghyuck peace, he is suddenly overtaken with confusion as a flood of questions come to his mind.

"How'd you get here?" he asks as Jaehyun crosses his arms over his chest.

"You need to tell Mark the truth," Jaehyun says seriously, ignoring Donghyuck's inquiry entirely.

"But...but I did!" Donghyuck argues.

"I didn't _just_ mean about the accident," he informs the younger boy with a disapproving shake of his head.

"Then what am I supposed to tell him?" Donghyuck asks in a much smaller voice, though he already has an inkling of what he meant.

"You know exactly what," Jaehyun responds firmly.

"No...I won't do it...I can't," he replies as he feels a large lump forming in his throat.

"You have to," Jaehyun breathes as he gazes into Donghyuck's eyes with an earnest expression.

"Why?" Donghyuck questions as tears begin pricking at his eyes. Unfortunately, they start streaming down his cheeks before he is able to stop them.

"Because facing your fears is the only way out," the older male explains.

"Wh-what does tha-at mean?" Donghyuck inquires through choked sobs.

Jaehyun's eyes flicker to the door, then back to Donghyuck.

"You need to tell Mark the truth," Jaehyun repeats.

"P-please, I–"

Violent pounding on the door startles Donghyuck out of his skin. He stares at it with eyes as wide as saucers whilst a scream involuntarily escapes him. He tries to ask Jaehyun what to do, but upon turning back around to face him, he finds the man has completely vanished. Again.

With a loud crash, the door bursts open. It swings on it's hinges and bangs into the wall beside it. Donghyuck lets out a loud cry as the clown comes stalking into the room.

"Mark!" he attempts to shriek, but his throat is still vaguely hoarse from being choked not long ago. He can’t seem to yell without croaking.

"He's not coming for you. He left you for dead," the clown laughs before pouncing at him, knocking Donghyuck to the ground. As it hovers over him, it smiles wickedly and wraps both hands tightly around Donghyuck's throat, strangulating him. He instinctively throws his arms up and attempts to claw at the clown's face, but even as he ends up causing it to bleed, it hardly acts phased by the pain.

As the pressure begins to build up in Donghyuck's head, he wonders if hanging on and struggling to stay alive is even worth it. With this thought, Donghyuck's will to fight against the clown depletes. If he really was left for dead, then why try? He can't win, anyhow.

”Giving up, already?” the clown taunts him as he stops struggling.

Hot tears fall from the corners of Donghyuck’s eyes as he shuts them. He begins to mentally beg that it would be all over soon.

"Donghyuck!" a voice screams.

The clown's grip loosens as it glances over its shoulder to see who had called out Donghyuck's name.

"Leave him alone!" the voice bellows in anger.

At that moment, the clown lets go of Donghyuck. He gasps for air and protectively places his hands over his neck. He wants to take a moment to catch his breath, but he soon realizes there's no time for that. He opens his eyes to see that the clown is slowly approaching Mark who is standing in the doorway, staring the thing back with a piercing glare that sends a shiver through Donghyuck’s body.

Donghyuck looks around for any sort of item he can use as a weapon despite the lack of anything in the room at all. To his surprise, though, he spots a baseball bat merely a foot away from him in the corner of the room. He was certain it wasn't there before, but decides not to question it. He scrambles to his feet and hastily takes it in his hands. He swings the bat over his shoulder, getting himself into batting position as he comes up behind the clown. He swings with as much force as his small body can muster, and with an obnoxiously loud thunk, he hits the clown in the side of the head. It drops to the ground, leaving Donghyuck to feel vomit slowly rising up his throat. Blood drips from the bat, horrifying Donghyuck to the point of tossing it to the ground.

He makes eye contact with Mark and notices him staring with a startled expression.

"We have...to...get out...of...here," Donghyuck says through uneven breaths, "It's...it's not...safe."

Mark blinks slowly as his eyes flicker from the clown back to Donghyuck.

"Let's get going, then," Mark murmurs as he grabs ahold of Donghyuck's hand and leads him out of the room.


	9. I’d never leave you

The two boys don't stop running, even after they reach the front yard. They only cease once they reach the middle of the deserted road, far from the dangers of Mark's house.

"C'mon, maybe we can go to Taeyong and Jaehyun’s apartment and see if it’s safe there," Mark suggests as he starts off towards the road. He starts off down the road, but after a few seconds of walking, he realizes Donghyuck isn't following. Mark looks, finding the younger standing frozen in place with a mile long stare.

"Aren't you coming?" Mark inquires, but the boy does not answer. He tilts his head slightly at the lack of a response and casually approaches him. "Hey...are you okay?"

Donghyuck lets out a shaky breath.

"I..." he mumbles, "I don’t know if we can die here, but...I was going to let that thing kill me...I...I’d given up."

Mark frowns deeply at his words. He peers sorrowfully into the boy's eyes as he slowly steps even closer to him.

"Oh, Hyuck," he breathes as he reaches out and embraces him in a hug, "You're safe now."

Donghyuck’s heart does a somersault in his chest, but he ignores it as best he can as he tries to go on.

"I thought you'd left me," he whispers as he shuts his eyes and takes in the warm feeling of being wrapped in Mark's arms, "I felt I deserved to die...that there was no reason for me to fight to live."

The older boy seems to squeeze him a little tighter at these words, and this small action fills Donghyuck’s heart with a strong sense of content and overwhelming love.

"I'd never leave you," Mark insists, "And I don't ever want to hear you say you deserve to die. You d-don't."

Mark's voice cracks slightly, causing Donghyuck to pull back to see why he'd done so. A single tear falls from Mark's eye as he gazes back at him. He was clearly affected by what he had said, and it physically pains Donghyuck to see.

"Don't you ever say that," Mark says once more in a hushed tone, brushing a piece of hair out of Donghyuck's face and tucking it behind his ear. Donghyuck’s heart flutters at the gesture, and he can’t help but hate how such a simple, mindless act can make him so weak.

At that moment, Donghyuck swears he sees Mark's eyes flicker down to his lips. Due to the brevity of the moment, he can't help but doubt his own eyes. Mark couldn't possibly have done that, nor would he have done it on purpose if he had. But it appears that the space between them is slowly diminishing bit by bit. The thought of it causes Donghyuck's heart to skip a few beats. Sadly, the happiness is instantly replaced by self-hatred, doubt, and regret.

No, surely he just means to pull him in for a hug again.

But why so slow and hesitant?

Donghyuck determines that relying on the idea that Mark means to hug him again was a risk he didn't want to take. Whether Mark was about to act impulsively without a clear head or Donghyuck was overthinking things, he needed to shut down whatever was happening before both of them regret it.

"We should keep going," he blurts out, "The faster we find a safe haven, the better."

"Oh...uh...yeah. Of course," Mark mumbles as he drops his arms and takes a step back from Donghyuck. Though he doesn't voice it, the lack of touch makes Donghyuck feel as if he's missing something. He enjoyed the feeling of security that came with being close to Mark, and after nearly being choked to death, safety was all he wanted. Even if the person he found purchase in was Mark.

The two continue on their way down the desolate street. Not a peep is spoken from either party, and although Donghyuck wishes Mark would say something, he wasn't about to strike up a conversation himself to end the eerie silence.

"Mark," a voice calls out almost on cue with Donghyuck's thoughts. His brow furrows instantly at it. It sounds breathy and almost like a gust of wind.

"Mark," it repeats softly.

"Who _is_ that?" Mark inquires as he surveys the area for any sign of the source of the voice.

"I...I don't know," Donghyuck responds in a murmur.

"Mark, over here," the voice continues with a light, playful giggle. It's then that Donghyuck realizes he's extremely tense and on edge. He didn't know why, but he was. Every muscle seemed to be stiff and ready to act in response to whatever was calling Mark.

"There!" Mark blurts out as he points towards the entrance to a cemetery.

There stands a girl in a small red dress at the opening of a large black gate on the other side of the street. She beckons Mark with fluid motions, and Donghyuck feels his stomach sink. Mark begins walking towards her, but Donghyuck stops him, taking his wrist into a death grip.

"Don't go. Something's not right about this," he warns the boy.

"It's fine," Mark murmurs in a sort of dazed state without removing his eyes from the girl, "It's just Yoojung."

He tears himself away from Donghyuck and continues his zombie-like walk towards the beautiful girl in the cemetery. Donghyuck instinctively follows behind, not wanting to risk getting separated again. The closer they get, the more Donghyuck begins to notice a faint red illumination radiating from her. It's not much, but it's just enough to make her appear ethereal: though it's not in a way which Donghyuck finds angelic or good. As they approach her, Donghyuck takes note of how her eyes glow a vibrant green.

In that moment, Donghyuck is convinced that she was some sort of demonic entity.

"Mark, wait!" Donghyuck squeaks in fear, but his attempt at warning him is blatantly ignored, yet again. The older takes Yoojung's extended hand, and he enters past the cemetery gates to join her. Donghyuck tries to rush inside as well, but before he can even reach the entrance, the gates slam violently shut in front of him with a deafening clash that forces him to cover his hands over his ears.

"Mark! Mark!" Donghyuck yells as he jumps at the bars of the gate as he starts aggressively shaking them. Yoojung grins wickedly at Donghyuck before giggling in a sort of triumphant manner. She turns to Mark and places her delicate hand under his chin.

"Stop it!" Donghyuck cries, "No!"

Despite this, Yoojung ignores him and leans in to Mark, placing a soft kiss on his lips. Donghyuck feels his chest constrict at the sight but forces himself to keep it together. Yoojung shoots Donghyuck one last grin before she twirls around. She continues leading Mark by the hand down the winding path while Donghyuck continues to violently shake the gate. He knew something awful was bound to happen if he didn't get to Mark.

He needed to find another way in. And fast.


	10. how he dies

Donghyuck races to find some way to break into the cemetery. He knows climbing would be impossible due to the fact he was not the best climber, and he had no idea how he would even approach doing it, so that was out of the question. He instead opts to run along the sidewalk in hopes to find another entrance.

Donghyuck paces along the gate, frantically scanning it for any way in, and to his surprise, a particular part of the gate catches his eye merely a few yards away from the front entrance. He comes to a halt as he notices there's a hole in it, just at the base of the gate where it should be touching the ground. It wasn't large by any means, but it appears just big enough that Donghyuck is sure he can crawl through. Without a second thought, he instantly drops to his knees and clambers through the opening. He manages to get his upper half through without a cinch, and he even feels a jolt of happiness as he realizes he's that much closer to being able to get to Mark. That is, until a sharp pain surges through Donghyuck's calf. He screams in pain, quickly dropping to lay flat on his stomach. He wriggles the rest of the way into the cemetery by crawling on his forearms and dragging the rest of him through. He then flips himself over onto his back and sits up. He tucks his leg into his chest and peers around to find a gash running from just below the back of his knee, down to the middle of his calf. He whimpers as he looks over at the gate and sees blood drip from one of the metal bars. All of the bars are now straightened and are pointed like spikes. They are much closer to the ground than they were before, and by the looks of it, there was no way of escaping through the same place, should he be able to save Mark. It was much too small of a gap now.

Donghyuck scrambles to get on his feet and continue onward. Though he is injured, he knows time is of the essence, and he could not allow his leg to slow him down. He needed to reach Mark quickly, no matter what.

Donghyuck rushes past headstone after headstone with a slight limp. The searing pain in his calf causes him to whimper and hiss, but he refuses to let it stop him. The moment he reaches the dirt road which Yoojung and Mark had been following beforehand, his heart does a small flip from the pride he feels for being just that much closer to reaching them.

He travels along the road, feeling his stomach sink further and further as he looks around at the masses of graves. It was a grim sight, and the trees surrounding the area are dense like a forest, only making the atmosphere more unsettling to be in. It makes Donghyuck's skin crawl. He passes by a few graves and takes note of the fact the soil was disturbed. Though Donghyuck tries to tell himself a grave robber must've dug it up to steal the corpses’ possessions, the way the dirt isn't put into a pile nor thrown carelessly several feet from the grave makes it appear as if someone...or something...clawed their way out. Donghyuck attempts to dismiss this and convince himself that he’s being illogical and that he just has an overactive imagination, he couldn’t help but still feel terrified.

Rustling could be heard coming from the trees just beyond where Donghyuck stands, and in that moment, he feels his heart stop beating. He watches as humanoid silhouettes come into view.

"Oh fuck," Donghyuck breathes.

As the silhouettes dart out from the shadows and into the bright moonlight, Donghyuck can see them much clearer. The creatures resemble humans in a few ways, but there's several major unsettling differences. Their skin is grayish and practically translucent. Their facial features are indistinct and smoothed out for the most part. Where there should be eyes appears to just be a continuation of their hairless head: smooth with no indication of anything having been there or that was supposed to be there. Although they have noses, they're just two sharp slits. They have small pointed ears on either side of their head, proving to be the most distinct body part on it. Their mouths don’t appear to have identifiable lips, appearing to just be a long line that disturbs the otherwise smooth face. Their bodies hunch over with their spines seemingly fused into their backs like dulled spikes. Their fingers are abnormally long and have sharp, pointed nails on the ends of them.

The one closest to Donghyuck takes in a long inhale as it lifts it's head into the air. Donghyuck immediately realizes it's using it's sense of smell to locate something. Something in particular. The creature lowers it's head and it settles facing directly towards Donghyuck. It lets out a loud hissing sound, revealing it's teeth. It was similar to that of human teeth, but the canines are much longer and much sharper. Before Donghyuck can react, the creature begins charging towards him along with a hoard of others behind it.

And all of them looked exactly alike.

Donghyuck instantly jets off down the pathway. He tells himself not to look back, but he does, anyway. Each time he glances over his shoulder, the creatures appear to get closer.

And closer.

And closer.

Realizing he needs to pick up his pace, Donghyuck pushes himself further despite his leg which still persists to pain him, but thankfully less so due to the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

But Donghyuck isn't a runner.

He begins panting hard and quickly losing any distance he had previously been attempting to maintain. Suddenly, Donghyuck feels something sharp pierce through his right bicep. Before he can so much as scream, he's thrown to the ground like a rag doll. He looks up, watching on as one of the creatures licks it's fingers slowly as if it had something delicious on them. Donghyuck hastily checks his arm to find blood dripping from four holes punctured into it. Then it hits him.

The creature had smelled his blood. They all did. And they wanted to drink every ounce of it from his small body.

As the creature finishes lapping up the last bit of liquid on it's fingers, it turns to Donghyuck and pounces at him. He screams at the top of his lungs, but it instantaneously changes from fear to agony the moment he feels something sharp pierce the skin on his neck. He shrieks loudly, but his cries start to fade as all of the energy in him begins to drain. The creature latched its mouth to his neck, and it was quickly depleting him of every ounce of life he had.

As Donghyuck lies on the ground in immense pain, he wonders if this is how he dies. He is almost sure he must be dead in the real world, but he grows increasingly certain that this is how he dies in this nightmare of a realm. Assuming death is possible here.

He lets out a whimper as his mind wanders to Mark. Mark didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be here. If he had just pretended to be happy for Mark, then there wouldn't have been a fight. If he hadn't gotten out of Mark's car and just let him take him the rest of the way home, Mark wouldn't have had to save him from the oncoming car. Even now, when Mark needs him the most, Donghyuck is completely and utterly useless to him.

No, he can’t think that way. It can’t end like this. Mark needs him. He can't die knowing he failed him. He has to stay alive. Even if it's just long enough to save him.

Though still being drained of his energy, he feels a new wave of determination. Mark was the only thing that mattered in that moment, and he wasn't going to let him die without a fight.

Just then, another creature approaches and latches to Donghyuck's wrist. Donghyuck screams once more at the sheer amount of pain a second set of teeth brings him. But then, almost as if by some sort of miracle, the first creature detaches from Donghyuck and rams into the second as if to claim him as its kill. The second leaps at the other and begins clawing viciously at it while snarling.

Realizing this is his only window of opportunity to escape, Donghyuck crawls to a gravestone and manages to pull himself onto his feet. To his surprise, he's able to limp away whilst the creatures continue to fight amongst each other. He isn't sure how, but he's able to successfully evade them despite moving at a snails pace.

He continues along the pathway, checking behind him constantly to ensure he wasn't being followed by the creatures. Before long, he notices a rather large building made of stone and marble. The door is solid black and stands out against the ivory colouring of the rest of it. The door is cracked open, practically inviting him inside. Though he doesn't know for sure that Mark went inside, he has a gut feeling that he refuses to ignore this time around.

Suddenly, Donghyuck hears hissing from a ways behind him. Without so much as needing to look, he knew that the creatures had managed to track him down. Unable to handle another round with them, Donghyuck takes off in a fast hobble towards the mausoleum. With heaving breaths, he pushes himself to get inside before they catch him. Thankfully, he reaches the doorway and swings it open. He quickly enters and turns to see a few of them are mere feet away from catching up to him. Donghyuck grabs the door and slams it shut, using the minimal amount of energy he has left in him. With a loud bang, it closes. He listens close and hears several clicks which come from either in or on the door, somewhere. He couldn't tell for sure. The creatures begin hissing and clawing at the door, causing Donghyuck to jump back. The clawing lasts only a few moments, then silences.

Curious, Donghyuck attempts to pull open the door once more, but doing so just causes him to fall backwards and collapse on the ground.

It's locked.

"Fuck!" he inhales sharply, not only from the fact there's no escape but also due to his severely wounded state. Still, he tells himself he needs to find Mark. He forces himself up onto his feet once more and glances at the start of the spiral staircase. Compartments line the walls, and Donghyuck recognizes them to be individual tombs where bodies are stored. A shiver runs down his spine at the thought of being surrounded by so many dead people in such a relatively small, confined area. Worse yet, he is forced to walk directly past each one. Donghyuck puts this thought aside as best he can and takes a few steps down the stairwell, passing the main wall to his left. The mausoleum abruptly turns into an open area below, and Donghyuck can view it very clearly.

To his horror, he finds Mark and Yoojung on the floor below him. Yoojung's mouth is open wide; wider than biologically possible for a normal human. It looks almost as if her head is nearly split in half by her mouth. And inside lies a full set of razor sharp teeth, ready to consume the boy in that moment. Meanwhile, Mark stands there idly, smiling at Yoojung with glimmering eyes like she was his world. Yoojung draws her mouth closer to Mark, nearly reaching his face.

"No!"


	11. if it weren’t for us

Yoojung morphs back into her normal form and snaps her head towards Donghyuck. She gives him a wide, wicked grin that puts the Cheshire Cat to shame.

"If you want him so badly, come get him," she taunts him.

Mark suddenly goes flying across the mausoleum to the opposite side from which the staircase ends. His back hits against the wall in a small space between two tombs. His feet are slightly elevated above the ground, giving the impression that he's either hanging off something or being pinned against the wall, but there doesn't appear to be anything physically holding Mark to it. Still, he‘s stuck there like a fly in a spider's web, waiting idly to be eaten alive.

Donghyuck musters up all of his energy and staggers down the stairs. Due to his injuries, his descent is a bit more clumsy than it should be, and it earns a condescending laugh from Yoojung. Still, he reaches the bottom and takes strides in Mark's direction.

Donghyuck's eyes widen as it becomes apparent that he's slowing down. He looks to his feet and realizes they're sinking into the ground, which now has the consistency of wet cement. He tries to press on, but trudging through only slows him down more.

"Look at you! Pathetic!" Yoojung cackles, "Always such a coward."

Donghyuck takes in sharp breaths whilst his mind races to find some sort of solution. He needed to get to Mark. He had to. Donghyuck whimpers as he wishes Mark was in a conscious state so that he could tell him what to do, or at the very least, get him to stop panicking. He always knew what to do, even in circumstances like this, and he always knew just what to say to calm him down.

It's then that Donghyuck realizes he needs to clear his head and take this from a much less anxious perspective. Donghyuck closes his eyes and recalls Mark coaching him on breathing while they were in the classroom trying to evade the Doberman. He remembers Mark's guidance and breathes accordingly. In...hold...and out. In...hold...and out.

Once he manages to get his breathing under control, Donghyuck smiles slightly and mentally thanks Mark before opening his eyes. He gasps in shock upon seeing the ground is solid once again. Feeling an odd, newfound energy, Donghyuck faces Yoojung. The expression on her face is a mix of confusion and anger with her mouth gaping open. She shuts it and begins grinding her teeth.

"How about we settle this once and for all," he sneers.

"Are you challenging me to a fight? In your state? Ha. Gladly," she hisses back as a smirk returns to her face, "While we’re at it, how about I let a few friends join me?"

Before Donghyuck can object, a low growl distracts him. He watches on as a pair of glowing red eyes appear in the shadows where the light of the torches don’t reach.

"Come here, boy," Yoojung commands, and the Doberman which Mark and Donghyuck had seen at the school comes bounding towards her. He comes to a halt at her feet and sits obediently.

"Miss us?" a voice asks from behind Donghyuck, startling him. Five corpses make their way around so he can see them. His friends surround him, all with broken stitches on their mouths.

Donghyuck's eyes quickly flicker back to Yoojung and the dog, but now the malevolent clown stands beside her, giving Donghyuck a malicious stare. A loud bang causes the tanned boy to cower in fear whilst inhuman hissing commences. A small group of the creatures which he had encountered before now enter into the mausoleum. With a wave of her hand, they stop just behind Yoojung and stand idly, almost as if waiting for a command.

Donghyuck trembles violently as his eyes wander around the room. He's surrounded. A feeling of helplessness crashes over him like a tidal wave and consumes him. He glances over his shoulder in Mark's direction with tears in his eyes.

He's lost.

He's failed him.

"Let's show him a magic trick," Jeno suggests in a dark yet eager tone.

"Let's," Yoojung agrees.

Donghyuck winces as everyone gathers into a group, staring at him with evil smirks on their faces. Even the Doberman has a toothy grin which shakes Donghyuck to his core. A flash of fire ignites in front of them, burning high and wide. It engulfs them, making it impossible to see anything. Donghyuck can't help but feel an intense anxiety gazing into the fire.

But something begins to take shape amidst the flames.

Donghyuck looks a bit closer as he watches the fire abruptly die out, revealing that Yoojung, the creatures, the doberman, and his corpse friends were all gone. All that was left was a single person. Donghyuck’s jaw drops at the sight.

"What are you so surprised for? You had to’ s known your true enemy in this was me," the boy points out as he approaches Donghyuck, "After all, none of this would exist if it weren't for us."

"W-what?" Donghyuck stammers as the carbon copy of himself walks casually around him, circling him like a shark.

"You created this hell, Donghyuck," the other explains, "And you dragged Mark along with you when he tried to save you. Tsk tsk. Couldn't just die on your own, could you? Poor Mark has to suffer when he could be living happily with Yoojung right about now."

"Sh-shut u-p," Donghyuck chokes.

"You're not only a coward, you're an embarrassment!" the other roars. He tangles his fingers in Donghyuck's hair and yanks his head back. "Too gutless to come clean. I'd pity you if I didn't want to rip your throat out," he says in a low growl, earning a whimper from Donghyuck.

Donghyuck's head is shoved forward as the other releases his grip on him. Then, he kicks the back of Donghyuck's knee, causing him to collapse to the ground on his hands and knees. A harsh kick to his side results in him rolling onto his back, yelping in pain.

"Get up!" the other yells.

"I c-can-n't," Donghyuck whines.

"Pathetic! Loser!" he grunts whilst stomping hard on Donghyuck's stomach between each outburst.

Jaehyun's voice comes to Donghyuck in a light whisper, sounding soft and gentle. It brings him a slight sense of comfort despite what he’s told.

"Tell Mark the truth."

Donghyuck whimpers for what seemed like the billionth time that 'night'. In truth, he was a coward. He couldn't handle telling him the truth. He convinced himself that living a lie was much easier than facing the harsh reality that was sure to face him if he did come clean. Still, deep down he knows Jaehyun must be right. That must be the only way to save them.

"So you think you have the guts now?" the other chortles, "Go ahead, then. I fucking dare you."

Donghyuck rolls himself back onto his hands and knees and crawls weakly to Mark. Every fibre of his being pains him to move, but he knows he can't give up. Not now. Not yet.

He reaches Mark–who's still in a daze–and uses the grooves in the walls from the doors to the tombs to pull himself to his feet. His body begs him to stop, but he ignores it.

"He'll never accept you, you know," the other spats, "You know he'll leave you to suffer the moment you tell him."

Donghyuck shakes his head, refusing to listen to himself.

"Don't be so fucking naïve!" the other continues, “He’ll never love you! No one will!”

Donghyuck feels a pit in his stomach as he stares Mark in his vacant eyes. Having to finally face him and speak his truth for the older to judge him causes doubt to fill Donghyuck’s entire being. It taints what little bravery he initially had.

"It's the only way," he whispers to himself, "If not for you, do it for him."

”He’ll reject you!” the other says in a more desperate tone than before.

Donghyuck lets out one last deep breath. He reaches up and cups Mark's face in his hands. He displays a sheepish smile, but it fades and is replaced with a much more serious expression.

"Mark...I've known you for so long...You’ve been my best friend for years, and...and I–" he gulps as he tries to coax himself into speaking the words he's been unable to say, "I care about you so much. You’ve always been there for me, and...and I’ve never felt this way towards anyone else. I–I’m so terrified to say this, but...I f–fell for you."

Donghyuck pushes a stray piece of Mark's hair back and exhales shakily. While he tries to determine what to say next, Mark's eyes begin to blink slowly. His brow furrows as he trains his eyes on the younger.

"What did you say?" Mark murmurs as he lowers onto the ground from his levitated state.

Donghyuck's eyes snap up to meet Mark's. He instantly withdraws his hands from Mark's face as his cheeks heats up in embarrassment. His stomach twists and turns as he anxiously thinks to himself that it wasn’t too late to back out, now. Pushing these thoughts aside, he attempts to own up to what he said. Telling Mark the truth appeared to be working, and to stop now might prove to make things far worse for the both of them.

"I like you, Mark..." he mumbles, "I've liked you for a long time, but I...I was too afraid to tell you."

Mark stares in a state of shock at Donghyuck, clearly at a loss for words.

"I'm sorry," Donghyuck continues, "None of this would have happened if I'd just told you before. I'm so sorry."

Mark blinks a few times before shaking his head in dismissal.

"No...no..." he utters softly, "It doesn't matter."

Donghyuck looks to Mark with a perplexed expression. Was he not upset? Disgusted? Angry? Resentful? Revolted?

"It...it does," Donghyuck insists.

"No," Mark repeats as he cups Donghyuck's cheeks in his hands, "It doesn't."

In that moment, Mark leans in close and presses his lips gently into Donghyuck's. The younger feels his heart flutter rapidly in his chest at the feeling of his soft lips. All the fireworks and butterflies in the world couldn't equate to the feeling of finally kissing him.

Unfortunately, it ends all too soon. Mark pulls back and rests his forehead against Donghyuck's, a grin playing at the corners of his mouth.

"I like you too, Hyuck," Mark whispers sweetly to him.

Donghyuck feels his knees go weak. Surely this wasn’t real. It had to be a product of some sort of longing to complete his unfinished business and fulfill his unachieved hopes. Still, at least he got to have this moment.

“Y-you do?” Donghyuck asks, unable to truly believe that had truly meant what he said.

”Yeah,” he confirms, “I do. I have for a while, now.”

Suddenly aware of his clone’s odd silence, Donghyuck quickly glances over his shoulder, but no one else was there. It was only him and Mark. He turns back to face him, his eyes glimmering with happiness and love.

“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this moment,” Mark murmurs quietly.

”How long?”

”Too long.”

Mark kisses him once more, and Donghyuck swears his body is ready to collapse. He shuts his eyes and feels his legs give out on him. He drops to the stone floor as his body aches immensely. The pain he endured was finally catching up to him.

"Donghyuck!" Mark screams in a panic as the younger feels his consciousness beginning to fade, "Donghyuck!"


	12. finally free

Donghyuck weakly opens his heavy eyelids, struggling to do so, but successful nonetheless. As his groggy sight comes into focus, he finds he's in a room with seafoam blue walls and several pieces of bulky equipment around him: one of which beeps loudly in his ears.

Three boys sit in chairs just across the way from him: two of which are sleeping, and the third tapping his foot anxiously whilst looking down at his phone. The pink haired boy's eyes flicker up briefly, then back down. A sudden, sharp inhale comes from him before he perks up with wide eyes.

"Donghyuck?" he breathes, "Donghyuck!"

The boy grabs the one beside him by the bicep and starts shaking him aggressively.

"Jeno! Jeno! Jeno! Renjun! Guys! Wake up!" he squeaks.

Both boys groan and slowly come to to the sound of the excitable boy screeching in their ears.

"What is it, Jaemin?" Jeno asks in a low, raspy voice.

"Donghyuck!" he manages to get out as he points to Donghyuck watching them with furrowed eyebrows.

Sudden realization hits both of them as look in the direction which he's pointing and notice Donghyuck is awake.

"Donghyuck!" Jeno gasps as he jumps up and bolts over to his bedside. The other two join soon after.

"What...happened?" he asks.

The three look amongst one another as they remain silent for far too long. It makes Donghyuck feel sick to his stomach.

"You and Mark were hit by a car...” Renjun speaks first.

“You both flatlined, but...they revived you,” Jeno continues, “You've been in a coma for the past three days..."

"What about Mark? Where's Mark?" Donghyuck asks as he attempts to sit up in bed, “What happened to him?”

"No, don't get up," Jaemin quickly states as he and Jeno try pushing Donghyuck back.

"I have to see him," Donghyuck insists.

"There's no way..." Jaemin denies, "Your leg's broken.”

”You're extremely injured,” Renjun chimes in.

Donghyuck ceases his struggle despite his restlessness.

"What happened to Mark?" he asks again.

Donghyuck watches as Jeno and Jaemin exchange solemn glances before turning back to him with the same expressions. To say it was disconcerting was an understatement.

"Mark...took most of the impact," Jeno informs him as he places his hand on top of Donghyuck's, "He had a lot of broken bones..."

"The doctor said some ribs were broken, didn’t he?" Jaemin asks.

"Yeah, and he said he suffered some internal bleeding as well," Jeno confirms.

“He looked like hell when I last saw him...” Renjun admits, “I’m surprised they let me. He was still in critical condition at that point.”

"Is...is he..." Donghyuck stammers, fearing the answer the boys would give him. He didn't even have the strength to say it aloud, himself.

Before any of the three boys can answer his question, the door to Donghyuck's room opens. A man in a white doctor's coat enters swiftly with a clipboard in hand. He looks up from it and smiles warmly at Donghyuck.

“Donghyuck!" he chimes happily, "You're awake! That’s fantastic!”

The doctor paces up to the heart monitor and starts scribbling a few things down on his clipboard.

"I'm Doctor Lee, but feel free to call me Jinki or Doc," he states with a warm smile.

"Where's Mark?" Donghyuck asks in a rushed, panicked voice.

The man’s smile falters at this.

"The boy you were brought in with?" he inquires as he attempts to keep his perky demeanor. Donghyuck nods. "Oh...he's in the next room."

"Can I see him? I need to talk to him," Donghyuck begs.

"I don't think we can do that," he informs him with a frown.

"Please..." Donghyuck pleads in a weak voice as his eyes already begin to glisten with tears, “I need to talk to him.”

"I..." the doctor starts but lets out a sigh of defeat, "I'll see what I can arrange."

"Thank you," Donghyuck breathes in relief.

"Don't thank me just yet," Jinki states as he approaches the machine on Renjun’s side of the bed, "Until then, try and relax. I'll get one of the nurses to call your parents to let them know you're awake."

He scribbles on the clipboard and mumbles to himself. He abruptly stops and clicks the pen.

”Your vital signs are good. Blood pressure is a little high, though, so please take it easy. Okay?” the doctor says as his cheerful tone returns.

Donghyuck nods, and at that, the man promptly exits the room, leaving Donghyuck to his three friends whom take it upon themselves to fill him in on their antics since he's been in hospital.

••••

Donghyuck is settled into his new bed with the help of Jinki and three other nurses. As they hook him up to the equipment, Donghyuck stares intently at the blue curtain divider to his right which is drawn shut.

The nurses quickly file out of the room, leaving Donghyuck with Jinki, whom was focused on scribbling something on his clipboard.

"Is that Mark?" Donghyuck murmurs as he points towards the curtain. Jinki glances over and nods in confirmation. "Can I see him?"

Jinki finishes writing something down and slides his pen into the breast pocket of his coat. He paces up to the divider and slides it open with an obnoxious whoosh.

An unconscious Mark lies peacefully in the bed beside him, a mere couple of feet away. His face appears scraped up and severely bruised while his right arm rests beside him in a cast much similar to the one on Donghyuck's leg. He could see part of Mark's road rash on his left forearm which peaks out from his bandages, and it causes Donghyuck to wince at the sight.

"Is he in a coma?" Donghyuck manages to utter as his eyes remain on the battered boy.

"No, a nurse reported to me that he woke up a few minutes after you. It’s quite odd. I’ve never known of that happening before..." the doctor responds, "But he's extremely weak at the moment, so I told him to rest. Try not to disturb him until he wakes on his own, okay? I'll be back in fifteen to check on you both.”

"Okay," Donghyuck mumbles.

Jinki speed walks out of the room and leaves the door cracked open. Donghyuck bites his lip nervously as he contemplates if he should do as the doctor advised. While he didn’t want to disturb the sleeping boy, he decides he can't wait a moment longer. He needed to try, even if it didn’t yield results.

"Mark?" he whispers, "Mark."

The boy remains silent and unmoving, causing Donghyuck to groan.

"Mark," he repeats at a louder volume, "Mark, wake up."

Mark's eyes fly open as he inhales sharply. He turns his head weakly towards Donghyuck.

"Hyuck?" he whispers hoarsely, and the tanned boy beams at him, "You’re alive. Thank god."

A sinking feeling hits Donghyuck as he watches Mark smile at him.

"Mark, I'm so sorry," Donghyuck whimpers, "You must be in so much pain."

"It's fine. I'm just happy you're alright," the older responds, "We're both alive, and that's all that matters, right now."

Donghyuck gazes into Mark's earnest eyes and quickly becomes lost in them. Oddly enough, Mark doesn't look away. He starts to wonder if what had happened was a sort of nightmare his brain came up with whilst in a coma or if it actually happened. He couldn't quite tell, but the way Mark looks at him causes a small flicker of hope to burn inside him.

"Mark, I have something I need to tell you," Donghyuck announces.

The older boy chuckles breathily, confusing Donghyuck. He shakes his head.

"You don't have to say it. I already know," he responds with a grin.

"What?" the younger blurts out.

"You already told me, Hyuck," Mark states.

"Oh...so...that was real, then?" Donghyuck asks, "All of it?"

"I don't know," Mark replies, "But I meant what I said back in that mausoleum."

Donghyuck feels his cheeks heat up at this. He wants to be happy, but he can't help but remember their last conversation before the accident.

"Wh-what about Yoojung?" Donghyuck asks fretfully.

"She's cute and all, but...I wouldn’t choose her over you in a million years.

"Are you sure?" Donghyuck mumbles, causing Mark to glare at him.

”Take it back.”

”Why?”

”I said take it back.”

”But–“

”Take. It. Back.”

Donghyuck lets out a small giggle at the older's annoyance, but concedes.

”Sorry.”

Suddenly, Mark flings his arm out and extends it towards Donghyuck. He stares at it questioningly, causing Mark to wave his hand a bit as he waits expectantly for Donghyuck. Getting the message, the tanned boy reaches over and meets Mark halfway. He places his hand in Mark's, feeling a swarm of butterflies begin raging in his stomach while his heart races at what felt like a million miles an hour.

He did it.

He was finally free.

–End–


End file.
